The general principle behind satire is that it needs to occupy one of two extremes – either, it needs to be subtle enough that we don’t realize what is being conveyed until a crucial moment in which we encounter some major revelation, or it needs to be so glaringly obvious that there is never any…
Tag: horror
The Mystery of Marie Rogêt (1942)
Few authors earned their reputation more than Edgar Allan Poe, and his status as the quintessential master of the macabre, his style being embraced as some of the most important literature ever to be written in Gothic horror and mystery. Pinpointing his most challenging and disturbing work is a challenge, but one of the strongest…
Weapons (2025)
We’re living in an era where horror has finally become one of the most esteemed, respected genres – the days where it was viewed as merely a secondary genre to the melodrama and western are thankfully far behind us, even if we do find some of the passion directed to the dreadfully trite concept of…
Mr. K (2025)
I often wonder whether Franz Kafka realised that his writing would have such an enormous impact on global culture – not only have his works been formative in the creation of entire literary movements, the very mention of his name evokes particular images and ideas, such as the frustrations of navigating the bureaucracy, endless hallways…
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970)
While it is tempting to view it as a singular chronological entity (particularly since we are predisposed to preferring the orderly structure it contains), cinema is nothing more than a series of movements, occurring concurrently and often in slightly different ways when it comes to themes and overall artistic innovation. Breaking it up into smaller…
All My Friends Hate Me (2022)
We all know that familiar feeling of walking into a room, and suddenly being struck by a truly intrusive thought – “everyone here hates me”. Perhaps some have been lucky enough to have avoided such irrational and nonsensical delusions. Still, the vast majority of us have felt insecure from time to time, especially in arbitrary…
The Dead Zone (1983)
Stephen King occupies a strange place in the contemporary literary landscape – he’s still objectively one of the most popular authors, and his books tend to be widely anticipated by audiences. Yet, his work is also viewed as slightly passé, particularly because it seems to lack the kind of spark that defined his earliest novels…
A Touch of Larceny (1959)
It seems to be a universal experience to fantasize about a situation where we simply disappear, which normally entails sailing off to some remote island where we can live our days in paradise – and the concept of imagining what those who remain behind may think in such a scenario is also quite fascinating, since…
Bad Taste (1987)
Years before he came to be seen as the very definition of tenacity in the form of his endeavour to adapt the titanic novel The Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson was a lesser-known New Zealand filmmaker who simply wanted to direct stories that interested him, paying tribute to existing genres while forging his own…
Cloud (2024)
As far as revolutionary filmmakers tend to go, Kiyoshi Kurosawa is shockingly absent from the conversations around which contemporary directors are the most original and innovative, despite showing his prowess for both bespoke narratives and incredible technical skills, which have factored into many of his films over the years, and positioned him as arguably amongst…
The Postmodern Pelican 